the co is at my husbands hall this week so i tied in to the meeting he was going on and on about how there are 140 elders in the circuit and only 80 something ms's.
of the elders 25 are over 75 years old.
of the ms's it was about 20 are over 75 years old.
What a contrast to how it was in 1980s, when it seemed like all the brothers were clambering over each other to be appointed!
As to the stock market plunge being a dead-sure sign that "the end is just around the corner", I can recall 40 years ago being told almost the same thing; i.e. "the monetary system is only just holding together, and is about to go anytime now" - as was "This System".
Really something to get excited about!
Bill.
since most of us believed it was right around the corner, how many of you went to any secondary schools or training?
what do you do now to survive?
are you working or unemployed?
Industrial electrician.
During the last ten years, I worked for a time as a Power Station Superintendent, and prior to that was Manager of an Electrical Supply Company (although, with my limited qualifications, I had to go to a Third World country in order to be considered for such a role).
These days, I am back on the tools - and thoroughly enjoying being there (the B/S that goes on in the office no longer holds much appeal to me!)
Bill.
(numbers 5:23-28) 23 and the priest must write these cursings in the book and must wipe them out into the bitter water.
24 and he must make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings a curse must enter into her as something bitter.
25 and the priest must take the grain offering of jealousy from the womans hand and wave the grain offering to and fro before jehovah, and he must bring it near the altar.
"Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" - I like it!
Bill.
i'm still amazed that the wtbts still don't allow women to wear pants to meetings etc.
is this a disfellowshipping offense?.
WontLeave,
I am speaking from personal experience, having been a member of that congregation during those years. As one of the ministerial servants there, I, too, had a full beard.
The crackdown started in 1981, when - for the coming District Convention - brothers volunteering to be attendants were informed "no beards allowed." After that, much must have been said in private to the various Bodies of Eelders by the Circuit Overseers. Certainly, immediately following each CO's visit, the elders seemed to have a lot to say about "when those articles came out about conscience" - and how "publishers thought that they could do what they liked".
This seemed to co-incide with when the WTS started making abig thing about "The Organisation."
Bill.
i'm still amazed that the wtbts still don't allow women to wear pants to meetings etc.
is this a disfellowshipping offense?.
This is yet one more example of WTS hypocrisy.
They are always very quick to condemn "Christendom" for imposing man-made rules and regulations, yet seem oblivious to the fact that they are doing exactly the same:
- and no more so than over this matter of dress and grooming.
Nowhere in the Bible does it prohibit women from wearing trousers (no translation that I have ever read, anyway!), likewise no scripture condemns men for wearing beards. This very fact was raised during the mid-1970s, when the emphasis was suddenly placed on the role of ones conscience should play in deciding such matters. At least one Australian congregation (Newmarket, in Brisbane) acknowledged that dress and grooming were quite correctly matters to be decided by an individual's conscience. To that end, brothers were not hasselled for wearing beards, and sisters were permitted to wear trouser suits in field service, at the meetings and even on the platform. At one point, nearly all the congregation's ministerial wore beards.
However, it was as if the WTS then feared it was loosing control of matters, and after a few years they re-imposed the WTS Talmud. In effect, each individual was notified "We will tell you what your conscience is telling you. You, yourself are incapable of knowing."
Bill.
hi guys, been a while since i've posted.
summer is very busy at my job, lots of ot, which is good because winter is slow and i barely get my f/t hours.
anyway, i had to post this to see if anyone has seen a similiar situation in their congregation.. i drive a lot for work, do home visits for a local visiting nurse association.
Maisha,
The trouble with "modest" consumption of alcohol is that every JW has their own idea of what constitutes "modest consumption."
Early on, I was warned off the JWs a non-JW relative, following her attendance at a Jehovahs Witness wedding reception. She was quite appalled by the heavy drinking that she saw going on at that event.
Later, I knew an elder who was rather concerned when named to attend the next session of the Kingdom Ministry School. He told us that he was going to "have to dry himself out beforehand" - referring to his fondness for apple wine, which he consumed for by the flagon full. For nine months after the 1975 debacle, that same elder never ventured out once in field service, and would regularly demolish a 2 litre flagon of sherry over the course of one night. Throughout all this, he kept his position, and was always quite highly regarded in the JW community. (a lot to do with his being a "closet" drinker, I think - you would never ever see him in any public bar around the place).
I myself was not exactly squeaky clean when it came to the subject of the brown bottle. Raised by parents who were modest drinkers, I was first introduced to drinking when I began associating with the local congregation. There was considerable social pressure to indulge in the stuff, and as others have noted, it was an easy habit to adopt - being one of the few escapes / indulgences / releases (call it what you will!) that a Witness is permitted to have.
The "guidance" that I received from the brother whom I studied with was that it was all-right to have the "occassional" heavy session on the grog, but one should still at all times "have all their faculties" about them. (This is indeed what he - an elder and regular pioneer - did).
The immediate problem here is in precisely defining what constitutes "occassional", and where the boundary line between "still having all ones faculties" and having lost them is located!
In my 28 years "in the Truth", I both witnessed - and participated in - much abuse of alcohol.
Bill.
watchtower pre-eve adam was not male!
today i uploaded a new article to my blog addressing watchtowers teaching of adams sexuality at the time of his creation.
as it turns out, adam was not originally created as a male.
Typhoid caused by tiny worms, vaccines blamed for the "upsurge in sexual immorality", organ transplants = cannabalism, the health benefits of giving yourself a regular reverse flushing - and now this.
Having been an avid reader of WTS literature during my formative years, I am now beginning to understand why I have been so messed up!
Bill.
jehovah's witnesses hierarchy charged.
immediate press release: 26 july 2011. link to this press release: http://wp.me/p1g1hc-4o.
worldwide church hierarchy charged with child abuse.
bandontherun,
Penalty units rather than specific monetary sums are frequently used in Australian legislation - the Electrical Safety Regulations being just one example of many, and one that I am very familiar with!
My understanding of this practice is that it allows adjustment for inflation. Otherwise, a specific sum of money that constituted a severe fine ten years ago may not now amount to such a severe penalty.
Bill.
according to the wbt$... the outside world is supposed to be a horrible place... .
the outside world hasn't caused me nearly as much grief,as watchtower world... outside world (5% grief).....watchtower world..(95% grief)... .
which has caused you the most grief in your life... the outside world or watchtower world?...
If ever there was such a thing as a "No Brainer", this question would have to be it:
- the Watchtower World by a long shot ....... so much so that I run completely out of unpleasant adjectives with which to describe it!
Bill
i caught the entire session today, and strangely, it was the first time i was able to stay completely alert for an entire dc program.
i'm guessing the reason for that is that i was looking at the program with a critical eye for the first time in my life and was not being hypnotised by mind-numbing repitition (see steve hassen's combatting cult mind control).
the program wasn't that bad.
I have heard some whacky explanations as to "what convinced me it was The Truth", but demon attacks? That one stands head and shoulders above the rest!
Bill.
